Hidden Between Lies
by captain menolly
Summary: She was never good enough she was never.. herself. But when Rue finds her.. things occur. Rue x Mint.
1. Angst By Moonlight

**She was never good enough; she was never.. herself. But when Rue finds her.. things occur. Rue x Mint.**

I do not own Threads of Fate, nor any of its places or characters.

**Hidden Between Lies**

Chapter One: Learn To Run

**--x**

It wasn't fair. When was it ever fair? It never was. She was never 'pretty', just 'okay'. She was never 'smart', she was just 'okay'. She was never 'strong', she was always, always, always 'okay'! She was sickened by the very thought of her flaws. Every inch of her body covered in the filth of her imperfection, biting, nipping, clawing at her until she was but no more. She had no savior; she had to rescue herself. Always. Mint was not your average girl.. not even your average _princess_.. she was more than what she seemed. Hidden behind lies, facades, masks.. whatever you wanted to call them. It was her right, her privilege, her own prerogative and the only thing she had to herself.

A bitter laugh escaped her lips as she let the rain caress her body; a minimal reward for her pain. Slipping into her true self, her strawberry hair fell from its messy bun, dark auburn eyes turning to meet the skies in a delicate grace. The material clung to her body, pale ghost white with a sash as pink as her shimmering hair. Then, all in one sensitive, quick, fluid moment, skin met skin as she crashed into a form. A gasp was heard from her, turning her body 'round fast and quick as to hide her identity. Mint felt her face grow warm, shaded with tints of pink and scarlet. The person's breathing was heavy, and she determined that it was a man, and he had been running, but skidded to a stop for her twirling figure.

She turned on her facade once again, adamant nature making her scowl and turn around. Eyes angry and acrimonious, her thoughts were harsh and biting. _Who the hell does he think he is, running into ME like THAT? _grumbling under her breath, she gave the man an accusing glance and raising a rough hand to slap him. Adept, he quickly caught her rushing hand right before it struck him, earning a hateful look from Mint. Jerking it away, she looked up at him, eyes curious yet spiteful.

" Who are you? " her voice was soft, stern, and demanding.

" Mint.. " he breathed her name out, and she gulped.

" R-rue? " It wasn't possible.

Turning on her heel, she ran quickly, but didn't hear him follow. She ran on, and on, but she didn't know where. Her beating heart willed her to move until her lungs were on fire and her feet were sore and cut. Falling onto the wet grass, she held herself up on her knees by her hands, limbs, body, and heart all shaking. A sob escaped from her form, a heart-wrenching sound. Shakily her hand held her chest where her heart would be, old wounds reopening and memories flooding back. Of their journey two years ago..

_Rue laughed, hugging Claire and Mint, and leaving the older woman a kiss on her cheek. Rage burned, but since she was young, Mint didn't know why. Her heart ached and she wanted to cry. But that was before he thanked her, and laced his fingers with Claire, giving her a passionate lovers' kiss, that made her dizzy from all the pain. She shoved back the tears, forced on a disgusted face, and spat._

_" You two disgust me! " Forcing a laugh like she always would.._

_" Well, I'll see you two another time. Goodbye. " _

_And she ran. Just like she did now. She ran again.. like she always does. Like the failure that she was and always will be. She would never be perfect like Claire. She would always have these painful flaws.._

Letting herself cry, Mint pounded the ground and screamed. Louder than anything she herself had ever heard. It was a scream of agony, pain, and it would make the strongest of people break down and cry. She clawed at herself, hitting, smacking, biting, scratching, inflicting any form of pain onto herself that she could. Finally, weak and out of breath, she let her body slump to the ground, the skies crying with her as thunder called. No lightning crackled, but the thunder screamed with her, the rain cried with her, and the sky... was imperfect like her. Thoughts ran at her. They made her scream, they made her cry, they made her want to tear down every inch of flesh she could until she was physically skinless and even uglier than before. _If that's even possible, _the voice taunted.

" Shut up... " she whispered.

" Mint.. ? "

**To be continued...**


	2. The Problem Revealed

**She was never good enough; she was never.. herself. But when Rue finds her.. things occur. Rue x Mint.**

I do not own Threads of Fate, nor any of its places or characters.

**Hidden Between Lies**

Chapter Two: Start To Run

**--x**

"Mint..?"

The said woman looked up, and auburn eyes wide and spiraling, she held her breath. Pale skin shadowed by the figure above her, Mint struggled to look for a way out. He inched ever closer, and she farther. When she looked up from the ground again, auburn and chocolate clashed. Her strawberry tresses framed her face, blood lightly staining just under her eye and on her cheeks. Sad eyes looked back at her, daring her to look away. Sadly, the princess wasn't good with dares, and they continued to stare into each other's eyes.

"What happened to you..?"

He set his hand on hers. She didn't move.

"Mint. Tell me what happened to you." Now it was a gentle, concerned demand.

"I fell."

She had forced herself not to choke. Rue noticed, but decided not to say anything. He eyed her warily.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes." She replied, a little too quickly for the man's liking. He showed this by furrowing his brows.

"Come with me. You need to be cleaned up."

"I'm fine, _Rue. _Go back home to _Claire._" She spat the woman's name out like a dreaded curse.

"...Mint.."

"What?"

"...Claire's dead." An awkward, shocked silence came over her, auburn eyes wide and unreadable.

"Wh-what?" Rue sighed, looking up to the sky and pulling Mint close, holding her to his chest.

"Claire's... gone."

"..She can't be, Rue.. She can't be.."

A muffled sob was heard from under him, and he stroked his best friend's hair in comfort. He knew she didn't like Claire at all, probably hated her-- but not even the selfish, egotistical princess he once knew was cruel enough to not cry. Even if she didn't know it, she had sort of looked up to the older woman. Mint muttered apologies over and over, but alas, both knew that anything they said would not, could not, bring back the dead. As much malice and hatred ran through her veins for Claire, _Rue's Claire_, for some reason it hurt the girl so that she couldn't contain her sobs to herself, and took to actually letting Rue support her for a bit. No one had to know, right?

After the rain cleared away, and Mint slowly drew herself from Rue's chest, she looked up at the man and weakly smiled. He did the same. A secret, silent message was shared in that moment, though neither of them yet knew of it. Both stood up and dusted dirt from their clothes, and the princess rubbed her eyes in attempt to wipe away her own tears. She could almost laugh. After so long of not communicating, they still acted and seemed like best friends. _It still feels like it, too, _both mused silently to themselves. Yet even if it felt like old times, they knew it would never be the same. Not after this, not after that. ..Not after Claire died.

Without a word, they walked side-by-side through the forest, damp air and muddy ground only causing little annoyance. As depressing as the last few hours were, they were once again content to be in each other's presence, knowing that they could tell the other anything; anything at all. _Almost anything, _thought Mint. _I can't tell him I'm in love with him, now can I? _The way she placed the words in her mind made it sound slightly humorous, as depressed as it made her. She smiled slightly, then sighed and looked up to the sky through the trees, where the sun was peeking through. As the night rose into morning, and the sky was painted with warm colors, Mint felt like the sun had just called to her. _"I found you! Now you're it." _Every day was like a new game of hide-and-seek.

One sharp intake of breath from the princess, a worried look from her "escort". As they neared the castle, Mint suddenly got nervous. Rue gave her another concerned side-glance.

"What's wrong?"

"N-nothing."

"..Mint, you can tell me. We're best friends, right?"

"Of course! But.."

"Oh, come on.. please?"

"..I'm supposed to be married to this dreadful man that I loathe."

"So that's why you were running away?"

"Yes! The blasted man, damn him. I hate him!" _Well, it wasn't a total lie.._

"Mint.." The said girl looked up slowly at Rue, who had said her name quietly and gently.

"Yes?" She whispered back. His eyes glittered, and it scared her, but she was entranced.

"I don't want you to marry anyone you won't be happy with.." She drew in a breath.

"Rue, I.."

**--x**

Finally! I finally updated! Sorry for the long, long wait, but all of this is coming from the top of my head, even if I do know the ending. x-x;; I hope it's okies, and I hope you all haven't given up on me! Oh, crap! X3 Thanks to Mare for telling me that I put up the wrong story, thanks! I didn't even notice. o-o;;


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